It's cold outside ... will we break the record set 20 years ago?

By: Linda Deitch

The Columbus Dispatch - January 03, 2014 12:18 PM

On Weds., Jan. 19, 1994, the official record low temperature for Columbus, set in the 1800s, was
broken at 5:45 a.m. when the National Weather Service station at Port Columbus registered
22 degrees below zero.

The old record had been minus 20 degrees and had been set three times, on Jan. 3, 1879; Jan. 6,
1884; and Feb. 10, 1899.

The average temperature on this day back in 1994 was 14 degrees below zero. That was 40 degrees
below normal.

The Dispatch reported that Ohio State University students had to "chill out" as classes were
canceled. Seven students had suffered frostbite the day before while walking to
classes, and that was a factor.

In Athens, Ohio University shut down for the rest of the week because
of the deep snow and extreme cold.